Self explanatory. Everytime you pick up a gun, always treat it as
if it were loaded. Check to ensure that it is in the desired condition.

Be certain that its loaded before placing on your nighstand/holster; or
at the range always take a sec to be sure your loaded and got one
chambered before the start of a drill. Conversely, always double check to
see that it's empty before disassembling for cleaning or dry practice.
When you get distracted or put your down for even a sec re-check it once
you pick it up again.

You have nothing to lose by double checking it's status but to cut
corners even once is to invite unnecessary tragedy.

Either in your holster or pointing downrange when it's in your hands. In
fact, you keep the gun's muzzle downrange whether you are
loading/unloading/reloading or clearing malfunctions.

If your gun has a problem which requires disassembling or you need to oil
it, unload it on the firing line and take the piece to a designated safe
area before fucking with it. And let everyone know so.

3.Keep your finger off the trigger until you have made a conscious
decision to shoot.

For beginner's purposes, your finger does not touch the trigger until
your sights are on target and you are ready and prepared to fire then and
there.

At ALL other times, your finger will remain
OUTSIDE the trigger guard and resting on the frame. And
this is the case for all manipulations/handling until you have made a
conscious decision to fire.

4.Be aware of your target and what is in line with it.

At the range, this is simple. You know where your target is and you have
a readily available safestop behind your target(s).

On the streets or a real time encounter target discrimination and the
issue of back stop for any rounds which might exit the bad guy and
endanger innocents is a bit more complicated but for the purposes of this
posting which is solely concerned with range safety and basic drills as
long as you only fire downrange or in a direction prescribed by the
instructor, you're good to go.

B)Shooting Fundamentals

1.Stance

Basically, a solid and stable fighting platform that'll afford you
both balance and steadiness as well as the ability to move off line of
threat. Like a boxer's aggresive type posture.

Also, in order to keep avoid a weapon snatch, it might be advisable to
keep your gun hand side leg slightly bladed to the rear so either
during a draw or in the face of an onrushing threat you can "compress"
your weapon away from the Bad Guy by shielding it with your support side
hand as well as your body.

2.Grip

With self loaders, grip the HGN as high up on the tang area as possible.
There should be no gap between the tang and the web of your thumb.

Also, position the thumb of your shooting high up on the frame. Not only
does this afford you more control but if you position yur thumb low you
may unintentionally depress the mag release button and drop your
magazine. Embarassing if it happens in calss but probably fatal in a
firefight.

A note on properly aligning the gun in your hand. Besides assisting in
controlling the gun, it should also allow you to naturally align with
whatever you're pointing at and the best way to do that is to look along
the top of the weapon from muzzle to hammer/rear and ensure that it is
straight in line with the top of your forearm. This will increase the
rapidity with which you can index in on your target.

Support Hand should "mate" with firing hand so that the fingers of
the support side fits into the grooves created by the grip of firing
hand. A two handed grip creates a 360 degree encompassing pressure which
is a key to controlling the weapon. Keep the top of the support side
index finger up against botom of trigger guard so that there is no gap.
Any gap translates into less than optimum control.

Placement of Support side thumbA couple schools of thought here
but in my experience the most effective method is to point it forward and
rest the firing side thumb on top of it.

Not only will this allow you to get the maximum amount of meat on your
weapon (read: control) but along with the sights and the natural
alignment of a proper firing grips, the thumb pointing forward can allow
you a tertiary layer of indexing your gun on target.

3.Sight Alignment

This is the relation between between the shooter's eye and the rear and
front sight. Establishing correct sight alignment then is levelling the
top of the front sight with the top of the rear sight with front sight
centered in the notch of the rear sight so that there are equal amounts
of light showing on either side of the front sight (as seen trhough the
rear sight).

4.Sight Picture

This is nothing more than properly aligned sights superimposed on the
desired point of impact on target.

The finer the desired pint of impact, the more precise the hit. Exampleif
you want to hit the center "X" ring on a silhouette, do not just
aim for the whole "X" but aim for where the two lines of the "X"
intersects and you will hit it somewhere in the ring.

BTW, for the puproses of the begiiner, strive only for precision (meaning
perfect sight picture with each shot. Since the human eye can only
have sharp focus on one plane at a time, it is important for the shooter
to concentrate solely on the front sight when firing the
shot.

Not the target, not the rear sight but the top/center of the front
sight's post.

5.Trigger Press

To get hits what is called for is not a sudden pull or a spastic jerk.
What you want is smooth steady pressure straight to the rear until the
shot breaks off. Do not grind the pressure to one side or another or you
will end up with some windage misses. Press the trigger straight
back.

6.Follow Through

This is controlling the pistol and triggerafter the shot is fired in
order to avoid disturbing it's aligment while it is firing. Failure to do
so will throw the shot off.

With recoil you will momentarily lose the visual verifcation of the front
sight. Refocus on the front sight the moment the recoil dissipates.

Also, do not release your trigger after a shot. Ride the trigger during
the shot and only release the trigger after you have visually reacquired
your front sight.

Trigger reset. After each shot and once you have reacquired your
sight picture, release your trigger only enough for the sear to re
engage. No need for you to take your finger off the trigger if you aren't
trhough shooting a string. Done properly you will feel and hear a
"click." This will translate into quicker and more accurate follow up
shots if they are needed.

HGN Basicspresentation, reloading

C)Presentation

Or what folks commonly call the draw.

1.Grip/Protect Centerline

Primary hand acquires firing grip on pistol( or unsnaps retaining strap
first if there is one...) while support hand rises to protect centerline
by indexing edge of your thumb against your sternum.

BTW, your finger does NOT touch the trigger yet.

2.Clear Holster/XCQ

While still keeping your finger on the frameweapon is brought up
until it clears the holster and is immediately raised into horizontal
over holster with thumb of firing hand indexed against firing side's
lower rib cage. If you need to start shooting from X-treme Close
Quarters, you are in a able to do so from this position.

3.Clap/Safety Off

If you're weapon has a manual safety, this is when you disengage it as
your your support hand joins with your firing hand at the centerline of
your chest. Note that this motion is done without your support hand ever
straying in front of the muzzle.

4.Extend

Once your hands have joinedpunch out to full extension. Depending on
threat level you either punch out to Low Ready, Contact Ready, or sighted
in on target.

If you do not yet have a specific threat but am anticipating one, you
draw to Low Ready. This is when you draw anticpate an impending threat.
In the Low Ready, your weapon is held in a two handed grip with muzzle
pointed at 45 degrees from parallel to the ground. Finger of OFF
trigger.

If you have a potential threat before you, you draw to Contact Ready.
This is where the gun's muzzle is slightly more elevated than the Low
Ready. You are pointed in at the lower portion of a potential bad guy's
torso with your mzzle depressed just low enough to see his hands
since those are your primary source of danger. Trigger also remains
outside of the trigger guard and along the frame until you have made a
conscious decison to shoot.

If you are have a specific threat in front of you which requires
immediate shooting this is when during the terminal phase of your draw,
you punch out to desire point of impact on Bad Guywhich, in this
case, is the upper thoracic/chest regionand as your start to acquire
your sight picture, your finger finds the trigger and your begin taking
out the slack. Once your have your sight picture, focus on the front
sight as you press off the required shots before following through.

D)Reloads

As with the other stuff I have mentioned, there are a few variations on
these but I have found the methods I have descibed to be the simplest and
most foolproof to perform while under extreme conditions.

1.Proactive

This is when you have fired off some shots (but haven't shot it empty
yet)and there is a lull in the fightpossibly concludedbut you
wish to "top off" your gun. Just in case.

The easiest and most straightforward way to reload is to depress the mag
button with thumb of firing hand and ejecting the partially depleted mag
into your support hand and stowing it in a pocket or your waist before
acquiring a fresh, fully charged mag from your pouch and inserting it
into the gun.

BTW, the proper way to insert a mag is to acquire the mag with your index
finger along the front spine of the mag and your index finger actually
resting on the tip of the top most catridge (this way you are tactilely
confirming that you are indeed holding a loaded mag without taking your
eyes off the threat) while the base of the mag rests on the palm of your
hand. Raise the mag to the gun and place the flat mag's rear to the flat
read of the mag well (just think "flat against flat") and slap the
mag into the well to seat it.

2.Reactive

Also, known as the Empty Reload or the Emergency Reload. This is when you
shoot your gun empty while in the middle of the fight and you need to get
it recharged ASAP.

You will usually know when you are emnpty if you press the trigger and
nothing happens while your slide is locked back.

Yeah, I know most autos have a slide release button which is a bit
quicker to use but they are also a lot less dependable. With the
adrenaline dump you'll get from a life or death situation, it'll be
damned easy for you to miss that little slide release lever with your
big, clumsy thumb esecially, if there is blood, dirt and oil present.
Much more reliable to just grab the top of the slide with your support
hand and pull it back and release it to chamber a round from the fresh
mag.

That's all for now. In the meantime whenever there's any sort of a weapon
in your hands, stay mentally switched on!!!!!!!